Hyphens, Parentheses & the Dash

Hyphens -

Use a hyphen for compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine and with fractions used as adjectives.

1. 1. Thirty-eighth Street

   2. One-half cup

   3. Sixty-three students will take the exam.

   4. Fifty-four individuals joined our class.

Hyphenate a compound adjective that precedes a noun it modifies. Do not use a hyphen if the modifiers come AFTER the noun.

1. 1. A well-written book captivates the reader.

   2. A world-famous skier had an accident.

   3. A well-known author lived down the street.

   4. The chocolate-covered popcorn was delicious.

   5. The author was well known.

   6. The popcorn was chocolate covered.

Use a hyphen with the prefixes ex, self, all, anti, and between a prefix and a capitalized word.

1. ex-husband

2. ex-football player

3. all-inclusive hotel

4. anti-American

5. mid-1990's

Parentheses ( )

1. Use parentheses to enclose material that is not considered of major importance in a sentence.

   1. Harper Lee (1926-2016) wrote the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

   2. Aunt Constance (my mother’s aunt and my great-aunt) is coming to visit.

1. Capitalize and use end punctuation for parenthetical matter that stands alone as a sentence. Do not capitalize and use end punctuation for parenthetical matter contained within a sentence.

   1. Complete the form. (Please print or type.)

   2. The protagonist (the author did not give him a name) is a sniper.

Dashes: How to Use Them